Hey Scott-
The big problem you will have w/ 15" MG C wheels is that they are
5 lug wheels and the MGB has but 4. I almost made this very mistake
until some kind soul passed on the info to me. Hold out your
hand--here's the info!!!!
Moss sells a "B" wheel which is 15". I have not seen one or
known anyone who has used them. I don't even know the brand name,
although I'd like to. I ended up w/ Panasport wheels 15x6 (K-Speed
America, College Station, PA) and they look pretty neat. The tires are
195x65-15 and the overall height is about 24" or real close to stock. A
195x60 would be about 3/8" smaller diameter. I need to get a speedo
recalibrated anyhow (Ford Mustang differential) so I was not concerned w/
the accuracy there. Keep in mind that different brands of tires differ
wildly on the diameter, even though they "are the same size".
I had no problems w/ clearance. The larger diameter wheels
solved brake caliper problems as well as tie rod end clearance problems.
I would be careful lowering the car w/ the wider tires. The offset
(22mm) of a Panasport wheel moves the tire closer to the inner fender as
well as closer to the outer fender. Well, duh,--it's a wider tire.
Thank you!!! The offset of other aftermarket wheel will vary as well.
I've seen a 3 mm offset as well as a -8 offset for MGB wheels. The best
bet is to find an understanding tire dealer who will let you play w/ the
wheels before they are mounted and then you can check out this clearance
stuff before you spend a lot of money on now non-returnable stuff.
Larry Dickstein
bugide@juno.com
On Sat, 10 May 1997 23:56:36 +0000 "Scott Gardner" <gardner@lwcomm.com>
writes:
>Has anyone here ever put the 15" X 5.5" Minilite repros on a
>chrome-bumpered 'B'? Most of the catalogues list them as being for
>the MGC, but one (VB, I think), lists them as a "plus one"
>applications for the B. I was thinking of using 195/60-15 tires on
>them, so the overall hieght should be about the same as the
>185/70-14s I've got now. I'm more concerned with hitting the
>suspension during tight turns, as the new tires would be
>significantly wider. Any experiences?
> Since my rear springs are about shot, I was also thinking of
>replacing the springs all around with the 1" lowered ones from Moss
>(550 pound front rate, don't know about the rear)
>
>Scott Gardner
>gardner@lwcomm.com
>www.lwcomm.com/~gardner
>
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